The North Carolina-based school and city bus manufacturer is wholly owned by Freightliner and through it Daimler AG. Pearley A. Thomas, an employee of the Brill bus firm, founded the firm in 1916 and began manufacturing trams. The company produced the first 10 city buses only in 1934.

In 1988, the company presented its own chassis for the front- and rear-engined Saf-T-Liner bus (before that, all chassis were purchased from Ford, Dodge, International and even Volvo). A couple of years later, the MVP family of city buses appears (an abbreviation from the first letters of the English words: maneuverability, overview, protection). In 1998, the company was bought out by Freightliner, and since then almost all buses (primarily FL 65) have been assembled on new chassis.

At the moment, the Thomas Bulit Buses program looks like this: bonnet MyBus, Minotour and Saf-T-Liner C2 with a capacity of 30-81 passengers, cabover Saf-T-Liner EFX, HDX for 56-90 seats and a small urban SLF (English licensed Dennis Dart ).

Perley A. Thomas, an employee of the Brill bus firm, founded the firm in 1916 and began manufacturing trams. Only in 1934 were the first 10 city cars produced. Two years later, the company began production of school buses and immediately completed an order for 200 units with wooden bodies. But already in 1938, the company introduced its first welded body. In the postwar years, Thomas was one of the six largest producers of "schoolchildren" in the United States.

In 1980, the smallest A-class model appeared under the name Minotour (still in production). In 1988, its own chassis for the front and rear-engined Saf-T-Liner bus was presented (before that all chassis were purchased from Ford, Freightliner, GMC, International and even Volvo).

In 1998, the company was bought out by Freightliner, and since then almost all buses have been assembled on new chassis, primarily the FL 65.

The latest innovation from the company was the appearance of the lightest school series MyBus on a GM chassis in 2009.

Now the Thomas Built Buses program looks like this: bonneted MyBus, Minotour and Saf-T-Liner C2 with a capacity of 30-81 passengers, cabover Saf-T-Liner EFX, HDX for 56-90 seats.